Unexpectedly Good Movies

You ever see previews to movies and think "Goddamn, that looks awful"? I know I have. Most of these movies are just as bad as they look, but some aren't, and I was in the mood to make a short list of a few movies I've seen in the last six months that have turned out to be much better than I anticipated.

Most recently, Orphan. You know, "There's something wrong with Ester." Oo, spooky, I thought. Not, skipping that one. I figured I wasn't gonna see it, and read the entire plot after seeing the preview. But this was a long time ago, and so when Michael put it on all I remembered was the twist at the end, which you think would ruin the movie, but no. It was still intense and insanely creepy. I'm sure it would've had a stronger effect on me if I didn't know the truth, but I was still disturbed.

Ester is a Russian orphan that gets adopted by a very nice relatively normal family. But right away it's obvious she's off. An honestly, that's all you need to know. It's worth watching. I think her accent makes her especially scary in some moments...which I guess is kind of racist to say. You know what I mean, though?


Next was Still Waiting. "Waiting" was hilarious, and still is. It gets quoted frequently among my friends. But in most cases, sequels suck, which is why I was a little upset and apprehensive when I found out about "Still Waiting." And...I was pleasantly surprised. I still laughed my ass off somehow. Plus, they kept some characters from the first one, including my favorite: the raging alcoholic Naomi.

At one point she says: "I'm gonna end up in the gutter again, suckin' meth for dick." The timing and delivery made it hands down one of my favorite movie lines in a comedy.

Another comedy, next on my list is Fired Up. It looked like a totally retarded guys-want-to-hook-up-with-lots-of-chicks-but-learn-a-life-lesson-in-the-end movie. I've seen a few of those, "Wedding Crashers" to name one. Here's the trailer:

Yep, two football playing jockheads join cheerleading for the chicks. Looks dumb, right? Wrong! Michael and I caught this on TV one night, bracing ourselves to change the channel. But it had the same quick wittedness as "Waiting" and turned out to be pretty damn funny and enjoyable. Add it to your list if you need a good hard laugh.

Last but not least, another scary movie: The Uninvited. This was an americanized remake of a Korean horror film called "A Tale of Two Sisters." I really enjoyed it, but everyone else I showed it too thought it was too slow, too long, and too odd. I was kind of pouting when I found out it was being remade, because most american remakes of foreign movies get really stupid in their own translation (The Ring, The Grudge, to name a few). But in the end, I liked it. It was pretty close to the original, and had a few extra elements.

So that's my horror/comedy sandwich of the latest movies I've seen that I didn't expect to be good but were afterall. Check them out!